Sermon 18: Celibacy Revisited
By Bro. Eric Kalinowski
Please read the entirety of 1 Corinthians 7.
First, this sermon will formally disavow the unbiblical Roland doctrine on celibacy. Our former pastor had an extreme doctrine on celibacy that called most or all Christians to engage in celibacy.
To clarify in 1 Corinthians 7:7-9, Paul states that some people have a gift of celibacy. This is a gift given unto some people so that they may serve the Lord without having to worry about temporal worldly affairs such as a spouse and children. This is a good thing for those who have this gift, but many do not and trying to stay celibate when you do not possess this gift is inherently dangerous to your soul and your walk with Christ.
Bro. Roland believed in an extreme doctrine in celibacy that ignores biological reality. When Paul says that it is better to marry than to burn, this applies to anyone who will succumb to lustful desires and temptations, which is exactly what happened to Bro. Roland and his failure to break his addiction to animated pornography. Bro. Roland clearly does not possess this gift of celibacy and his leading others to attempt to remain celibate when it would be far better for them to marry has been the critical failure so far of this ministry.
SimplyChristian will no longer advise most people to remain celibate, and those who are called to do so will know who they are as they are anointed by God with a special gift to serve and they will know if He led them to serve and to live in this way. For the rest of the church, it is far better to find an appropriate Christian spouse and to marry and exercise marital relations in the appropriate context as opposed to fornication or sodomy or pornography or self abuse or any other such inappropriate forum. I will write a follow up sermon about what to look for in a godly spouse.